I’m going to tell you a story about NEED and WANT.

My husband regularly takes our two year old grandson Ryder out for lunch and play. A couple weeks ago, after lunch he took him to a motorcycle  store.  Ryder immediately finds a small replica motorcycle and tells his ‘Papa’ that he WANTS it.  My husband says “No, You need to be four years old to have that toy.”  (This toy is $20.00.)  Fast forward two weeks, and again my husband takes Ryder to the same store, and guess what?  Ryder picks up the same toy, and now says to his Papa, “Papa, I NEED it.”   This time Papa buys the toy.  I laughed!

Ryder with new toy!

Ryder is only 2 but he has an extensive vocabulary and he knows the difference between WANT and NEED.  His Dad snowmobiles, rides dirt bikes, and does all kinds of outdoor activities.  I think that Ryder wanted to be ‘like Dad’. He NEEDED that toy.

What about RETAIL Want and Need.

It seems to me that what we want to do in Retail is to create NEED.  We all have a 1000 wants but it’s different from NEED.

When I take a design customer out to shop for furniture and she falls in love with a creamy white Italian exquisite sofa at a very expensive price, and then purchases it, I am likely fulfilling a NEED. It may make her feel pride in herself that she can afford such a luxury, or it may be simply that she values great quality and craftsmanship, and is willing to pay for this, but in any circumstance it is very different from WANT.

In setting up a showroom yesterday for a high-end wholesaler we discussed how to ‘Sell’ beautiful Mohair blankets.  These are definitely luxury items.  We need the retailer to touch and feel this blanket, to imagine this in her store, to NEED this in her store, and then to pass that feeling along to her customers in her store. Beautiful, exclusive, high quality items.

At a Giftware show where I was setting up product from different vendors,  a salesman asked me if I knew the difference between his $20.00 mercury glass balls and another vendor’s $5.00 ones.  He explained about weight, craftsmen making these individually by hand vs. line production, thickness of glass, depth of crackle etc. and then he proceeded to tell me that “People inherently recognize greater beauty”.

I may want a pair of shoes, but I also may NEED a particular pair of shoes. Design, craftsmanship, colour, heel height, fit, envy, peer pressure, image and so on.

It’s up to you to create the NEED.

HEDDY BING Is an award winning store designer with over 20 years experience with window displays, merchandising, mannequins, fixtures, and all aspects of Store Design. She has worked in Canada, the USA, and in Asia with international clients.

She works with small, medium and large Retailers—Every one is unique!

Wondering where your cash desk needs to go?

Wondering how many mannequins you need?

 Wondering how to improve your traffic flow?

Thinking about renovating or buying a new location?

 Wondering how to get new ideas for Window Displays?

Wondering about signage, hangers, hang tags,

Wondering about lighting

I’m here to help.  Contact me at 604 649 9050 or heddy@urbanspaces.ca